MYTHICAL MONSTERS

Dragons are usually thought to have wings and breathe fire. They also are said to have scales and claws. Some also have horns. Almost always they are said to be venomous. Some dragons may have two or more heads. They may also have more than one tail. They may have two, four or even more legs; however, most are known to have four legs. Dragons are said to eat things such as rats, birds, snakes, bats, or even humans, especially children.Dragons are very intelligent creatures. They live in remote areas, far away from humans, in places that are dark, damp and secluded, such as caves. Dragons were first thought of as creatures who lived in water.

Later they became associated with fire. Sea serpents may have been the first dragons, and may be the reason for this association.Almost all dragon stories portray the dragon as the villain from whom the hero must protect the city or the princess. But some dragons can take on the form of the protector. The biggest differences in dragons usually come from different cultures, especially the cultures of the East and the West. Each culture seems to have their own idea about dragons.Dragons cannot be put all into one group, as there are so many dragons. Each culture seems to have their own type of dragon, and each of these dragons is usually very different.

Some people have said that dragons once existed, maybe during the time of the dinosaurs. Others believe that dragons began around the same time the earth began. A few people even claim to have seen a dragon in their life time. Of these people who claim to have seen one, they usually agree that it was humans who finally defeated the dragons.But most of all, dragons are fascinating, magical creatures who have captivated our attention for thousands of years. The many different kinds of dragons and the ability for us to use our imagination to create these creatures only adds to their appeal. Many stories have been told about these great beings and it seems like dragons are a part of our mythical history. Whether these creatures are or ever were real probably doesn't matter due to the fact that the imagination can create them in almost any situation.Dragons have often been used in art work. Pictures or sculptures of dragons seem mysterious and magical. Fashion has found style in these magical creatures, especially in the Eastern dragons

The phoenix is one of the few mythical creatures in the world that is seen throughout almost every culture from Ancient Egypt to China. Though there are slight variations from one mythos to the next, most of its characteristics stay the same. It is always portrayed as a bird that either is the color of fire or made from it. The one characteristic that is the same for all of them is the creature's ability to resurrect. The phoenix can live a long life, how long varies from culture to culture. When the bird dies, it burns itself into a pile of ashes and from these ashes, a new phoenix is born. The Phoenix represents the cyclical path of life and death and because it is reborn from its own ashes, is seen as a symbol of reincarnation and immortality.

There are many legends of people turning into beasts and atacking humans. They are called Lycanthrope.A Lycanthrope or Lycan was someone who suffered from a terrible condition by which they turned into a wolf-man by night and hunted humans and animals as prey.It was thought that in ancient Greece, if someone were to eat the flesh of a wolf that had been mixed with a human, the person would become a Lycanthrope of which the process could not be reversed. In medieval Europe the source of Lycanthropy was caused by witchcraft. Anyone accused of being a Lycanthrope was put to death.
The word originates form the Greek ‘lykos’ meaning wolf and ‘anthropos’ meaning man. This implies that the belief in Werewolves dates back to ancient Greece but historian s predict that the belief goes back to pre historic times and was infused into Olympian belief. The belief can be traced further back to the wolf cult that lived in the ancient region of Arcadia (a secluded mountainous region in Greece). Arcadia had many wolves that lived in the region that gave rise to the wolf cult called Wolf-Zeus. Every year, the people would sacrifice a wolf to the god Zeus on mount Lycaeus. A feast of wolf and human flesh would then be made. According to legend, whoever ate the meat wold be turned into a wolf and would remain so unless they abstained from human flesh for 9 years.This superstition was carried over into Roman culture. They believed that anyone who had been transformed into a wolf by means of a curse or herbs was called Versipellis which means ‘turnskin’.

In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost (sometimes known as a spectre (British English) or specter (American English), phantom, apparition or spook) is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike visions. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance.The belief in manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary essences that haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life, though stories of phantom armies, ghost trains, phantom ships, and even ghost animals have also been recounted.

Witchcraft (also called witchery or spellcraft) is the use of magical faculties, most commonly for religious, divinatory or medicinal purposes. This may take many forms depending on cultural context.
The belief in and the practice of magic has been present since the earliest human cultures and continues to have an important religious and medicinal role in many cultures today.
"Magic is central not only in 'primitive' societies but in 'high cultural' societies as well..."
The concept of witchcraft as harmful is often treated as a cultural ideology providing a scapegoat for human misfortune. This was particularly the case in Early Modern Europe where witchcraft came to be seen as part of a vast diabolical conspiracy of individuals in league with the Devil undermining Christianity, eventually leading to large-scale witch-hunts, especially in Protestant Europe. Witch hunts continue to this day with tragic consequences.